A Friend
by Driftingthought
Summary: What if Ash had been the first one to enter the Viridian City gym?  Would he be able to win against the powerful Giovanni?  Ash soon finds out, and gets some unexpected help along the way.  One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful anime/manga Pokémon. **

**A:N: Horizontal bar halfway through the story indicate change in time, scene, or, occasionally, point of view. ****Finished around 2009. Rated K+ for fight scenes.**

* * *

><p><strong>A Friend<strong>

"Come on, Pikachu, we're going to get an Earth Badge!"" Ash shouted, running toward the Viridian City gym.

"Ash! Wait up!" Misty shouted.

Ash ran up to the doors of the gym. He stopped, but not because of Misty. Ash turned to Pikachu. "Well, Pikachu, this is it! It's not going to be easy, but with you I know I can't lose!" Ash said, grabbing Pikachu's hands and smiling. Suddenly, Ash heard a very recognizable voice.

"Still playing with your cute little Poke-pals, Ash?"

"Gary? What are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"I might ask you the same question. You see, Ash, they only let the best Pokémon trainers battle here," Gary replied.

Ash felt his blood boil. "Well, I'm going to battle anyway, and I'm going to win!" Ash said, running up to the battle doors. "I request a battle with the leader of this gym!" Ash shouted at the guards. Their spears then lifted to let him pass.

"Whatever, you'll still lose," Gary said, smirking.

"Yeah, that's what you say. Come on, Pikachu, let's win this!" Ash shouted, running through the doors of the gym.

"Come on, Brock, let's go with Ash." Misty replied, pulling Brock away from Gary's cheerleading squad. Suddenly, to both Misty and Brock's surprise, the guards put their spears in an X formation, prohibiting both of them from entering. "Hey! What's wrong with us going with him?" Misty shouted, trying to push her way through.

"Only one Pokémon trainer is allowed in this gym at a time!" the guards shouted, their spears glistening menacingly. Misty seemed down, but Brock was very upbeat.

"Hey, girls! Can I get some numbers?" Brock shouted, as Misty once again dragged him backwards.

* * *

><p>"Where are Brock and Misty?" Ash said aloud. He looked around for the door that he had came through, but suddenly realized that everything around looked the same. Ash started as he heard a voice come from the top of the gym.<p>

"So, you want to battle for the Earth Badge?"

"Yeah, and I intend to win!" Ash shouted.

"Very well then." The voice paused, then continued. "A three on three Pokémon battle, no time limit. Begin."

Ash immediately threw a Poké Ball into the air. "Go Bulbasaur!" he shouted. Just as his Poké Ball opened, Ash saw another Poké Ball fly into the air from where his opponent was sitting. After about three seconds, it burst open to reveal an Onix. "Okay, Bulbasaur! Use Quick Attack, but be careful!" Ash shouted, watching his opponent.

"Onix, stand your ground," the leader replied coolly. Ash watched his Pokémon hit the Onix. The opponent Pokémon stumbled backward, but aside from that, looked untouched. "Now, Onix, use Rock Throw," the leader said. Then, before Ash could even think about a counterattack, the opponent ran forward and slammed into Bulbasaur with its body, sending Ash's Pokémon flying backwards.

"Bulbasaur!" Ash shouted, running up to his Pokémon. He took one glance at Bulbasaur, realizing that he was unconscious. Quickly returning him, he sent out another Pokémon, this one being Squirtle. "Now, Squirtle, use Hydro Pump!" Ash shouted, watching his Pokémon retract and send waves of powerful water soar toward the Onix. The opponent roared as it was thrown backwards, crashing into an opposing wall. The leader quickly returned the fainted Pokémon, and with another swift movement sent out a Golem.

"Okay, Squirtle, this should be easy! Use Water Gun!" Ash said, watching his Pokémon open its mouth and let stream of water fly toward his opponent.

"Golem, use Rollout, followed by Rock Throw," the leader commanded. Golem easily evaded the attack and sent Squirtle flying backwards with one of his own.

"Squirtle!" Ash shouted, running to his Pokémon and helping him up. "Now, use Skull Bash!" Ash said. His Pokémon ran forward and jumped into the air, using gravity to soar toward the Golem. The Water Pokémon collided with Golem, not hurting the Pokémon much at all.

"Golem, use Magnitude!" the leader yelled. Ash watched as the opponent put its arms out in front of it.

Squirtle just stood there, not knowing what to do. The Golem jumped using gravity in the same way Squirtle had. The Rock Pokémon landed on the ground hard, causing Squirtle and Ash stumble and fall over. "Now, use Tackle!" the leader shouted. Ash watched as the giant rock Pokémon soared toward Squirtle and hit home, causing Ash's Pokémon to fly backwards.

"Squirtle!" Ash shouted again, running up to his Pokémon. Seeing that it was knocked-out, he quickly returned Squirtle then turned to Pikachu. "You up for a battle?" Ash asked, grinning.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted happily, running into the battle arena.

"Now, Pikachu, use Thunder!" Ash said, watching as his Pokémon sent out its most powerful attack. Electricity soared toward his opponent and engulf him. The electricity stopped, and both Ash and Pikachu gasped when Golem immediately opened its eyes, looking unharmed. "Hey, what happened?"

"Do you really think that electricity would harm a Rock Pokémon?" the leader laughed. "You are more of a fool than I thought. Now, Golem, use Tackle!" Ash watched as his opponent soared toward his Pokémon and sent it flying backward.

"Pikachu, are you all right?" Ash shouted.

"Pika pi pi." Pikachu replied, getting back up slowly.

"All right! Now use Quick Attack!" Ash shouted,

Pikachu ran toward Golem, hitting the Rock Pokémon head-on. Despite the attack, it didn't seem to do much damage.

"Golem, lets finish this. Use Fissure!" the leader shouted.

Ash watched as his opponent jumped up then came back down, with much more force than before. Suddenly, the ground beneath the Golem cracked in half. Ash watched in horror as the attack went almost as fast as electricity toward his beloved Pokémon.

"Pikachu, look out!" Ash shouted. The ground beneath his Pokémon cracked in half, making Pikachu drop like a stone into the earth.

Ash stood there dumbfounded, needing a few seconds to register what had just happened. "Pikachu!" Ash screamed. He fumbled with a Poké Ball, but it was too late. Pikachu had disappeared into never-ending blackness.

Ash ran up to the fissure, but before he could even get ten yards from it the ground started shaking again. He looked to see Golem using what seemed like an Earthquake attack. To Ash's horror, he saw the Fissure slowly close up, and reduce to a small crack running from either side of the gym.

"Well, looks like three of your Pokémon are knocked out. You lose." the gym leader laughed, returning his Pokémon.

"How am I supposed to get Pikachu back?" Ash said.

"You will have to figure that out yourself, little boy. You underestimated your opponent, and there is always a danger in that. This is your punishment."

"That's illegal!" Ash shouted.

"Show me the rule book," the gym leader said.

Ash faltered. "I don't have one. But it's still not fair! Your never supposed to get rid of the opposing trainer's Pokémon! Your just supposed to knock them out!"

"There are different rules in this gym, kid. You're on your own."

The lights above the gym dimmed very quickly, and when Ash looked up a second later, the gym leader was gone.

Ash released five of his Pokémon, commanding them all to do the exact same thing. "See if you can get the crack in the gym open! Pikachu fell down it."

His Pokémon pushed themselves to the limit, but none of them could even budge the floor. Ash frowned. _I wonder if Brock's Onix could open the fissure_, Ash thought. He turned around, seeing two people. "What are you both doing here?"

The brown-haired kid frowned. "Your Pokémon are so weak that you're having them attack the ground?"

Ash ignored the question. He turned to the second person. "A.J., why are you here?"

"I wanted to battle at this gym, but I couldn't get in, so I sneaked in through the back. Where's Pikachu?"

"Yeah, where is that runt of yours?" Gary said.

"He's in that crack in the ground," Ash said.

"You're kidding!" A.J. said. "How did that happen?"

"The leader of the gym had his Golem use Fissure," Ash said. "Pikachu fell into the crack. The gym leader had Golem use Earthquake to close the fissure so I couldn't get down to Pikachu."

"That's weird," A.J. said. "Maybe Sandshrew can help." A.J. released Sandshrew, and commanded that the Pokémon dig in the fissure to open it up. A small hole was made by Sandshrew, but beside that nothing else happened.

"Here," Gary said. "Try this." A Poké Ball exploded, revealing a Nidoking as soon as the Pokémon materialized. "Nidoking, use your Strength to open that crack in the ground."

The Drill Pokémon nodded. He bent over and put his claws in the crack. After about a minute, the fissure was open wide enough to let the three trainers through.

"Let's go!" Ash said, getting ready to jump into the darkness.

Gary stopped him. "You got a death wish? You have no idea if that fissure is only twenty feet deep or two hundred! A Pokémon wouldn't get hurt that much by falling, but it could seriously hurt a human."

"Got a better idea?" Ash said.

"Don't you have a flying Pokémon?" Gary said.

"Yeah, but—"

"But what? Let the Pokémon out!" Gary said.

"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to," A.J. said.

"I don't have a flying Pokémon. Do you, A.J.?" Gary said.

"I do have a Beedrill, but only I can ride him."

"Why don't I just send Pidgeotto down into the fissure, and see if he can find Pikachu and bring him back to us?"

"You can try, but I don't think Pidgeotto can see very well in the dark," Gary said.

"Pidgeotto, go find Pikachu!" Ash said.

His Pokémon nodded, flying into the darkness.

"Have either of you seen Brock and Misty?" Ash said.

"They were outside," A.J. said. "The guards won't let them in, though."

Pidgeotto came flying out of the fissure, a unconscious Pikachu on his back.

"Pikachu, are you okay?" Ash said.

"Your mouse's fine," Gary said.

"Hey, Sandshrew, how about you use a few Digs on the walls and damage this place a bit?"

"Why are you damaging this gym?" Ash said.

"If the gym leader tried to get rid of your Pokémon, this is what he deserves," A.J. said.

Ash nodded, and a few seconds later the three of them left, the gym behind them looking like a slice of Swiss cheese. "Hey, Brock, hey Misty," Ash said as the three of them walked out of the gym.

"How did you two get in there? We couldn't go in!" Misty said.

"We took a back way in," A.J. said.

"Did you get your Earthbadge?" Brock said, having just been pulled away from Gary's cheerleaders by Misty.

"Nope. And I think that I'm going to get my eighth badge at a different gym. I'm never coming back to this gym ever again."

"Why's that?" Brock asked.

"Well, you see, it all started when I went into the gym. . ."

*The End*


End file.
